Leonid Brezhnev was General Secretary of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982. During his rule, he did not pursue reforms and maintained the Brezhnev Doctrine that the USSR had the right to intervene in other countries to protect communist regimes. In 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan to support the communist regime after it faced uprisings from guerilla groups opposed to communist rule and reforms. Mikhail Gorbachev later came to power in 1985 and pursued policies of glasnost, perestroika, and withdrew support for communist regimes according to the Brezhnev Doctrine. This led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

1. World History II – May 2012

2.  General Secretary of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 –
1982
 Not interested in reform
 Brezhnev Doctrine
 USSR has the right to send aid or use
military force to protect communist
regimes in other countries
 Restatement of existing Soviet policy
 Trade and détente with US
 Continuation of “Khrushchev cooling”

3.  1978 revolution in Afghanistan puts communist party
in control
 Reforms include literacy training for men and women
 Communist party resented by devoutly Muslim and
anti-communist population
 Uprisings begin among Afghan guerillas
 U.S. begins sending aid to rebels in July 1979
 USSR invades in December 1979 to support communist
regime
 Early stalemate but fighting continues until Soviet
withdrawal in February 1989

4.  Named General Secretary in 1985
 Promoted glasnost (openness)
and perestroika (restructuring)
 Introduces presidential office and
elected legislature
 1989 first free elections since 1917
 Signs arms treaty with U.S.
 Abandons Brezhnev Doctrine
 Other nations should determine
their own internal affairs

5.  Erected in 1961
 Symbol of “iron curtain”
separating East and West
during Cold War
• Without Soviet
intervention, East Germany
could not control protests
• Borders opened November
1989
• German reunification
followed in 1990

6.  Communist conservatives dislike Gorbachev’s policies and
growing independence of Soviet Republics
 August 1991: “State Emergency Committee” kidnaps
Gorbachev and attempts to seize power in Moscow
• People of Russia and Boris
Yeltsin (elected president of
Russian Republic) resist coup
and fight to maintain control
• After coup fails, Republics
begin to declare
independence from Soviet
Union